More 'genuine' material or visually appealing videos? Israel-Gaza conflict ongoing on X and TikTok

 More 'genuine' material or visually appealing videos? Israel-Gaza conflict ongoing on X and TikTok

Regardless of age. X or Tiktok. Palestinian or Israeli-friendly. You are the only one on your social media feeds. Do they influence your perception of the Israel-Gaza conflict?

I see two videos play one after the other when I open my TikTok feed. First, under a clear blue sky, four Israeli soldiers can be seen dancing while brandishing their weapons. The second is a young lady speaking from her bedroom and with a caption that is blatantly pro-Palestinian.

Depending on which of the two I end up viewing, TikTok's algorithm will decide what sort of videos I like to watch and suggest comparable material.

Similar to other social media sites, the algorithms at play here lead certain users toward material about Israel and Gaza that is more polarizing and serves to confirm their preconceived notions.

This is significant because social media discussions have the power to influence public opinion and legitimize language that circulates offline, particularly in relation to demonstrations.

This includes the UK, where a large number of individuals who would not typically be politically involved seem to have been inspired to do so by social media.

Laila Moran, a liberal democrat MP whose mother is Palestinian, informed me that she and other MPs are getting a "huge influx" of letters calling for a ceasefire, many of which come from young people. It seems that "TikTok videos and Instagram Reels shared on WhatsApp" are what spurred them to action.

"Their first reaction tends to be to not believe anything that looks very intelligent. The Oxford West and Abingdon MP said, "They anticipate it to be misinformation.

Compared to other subjects, the conflict "has elicited less engagement and communication from residents" in the seat of Conservative MP Andrew Percy, who also serves as vice-chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel organization.

But he goes on: "A significant portion of the disseminated information is problematically anti-Semitic. This battle wasn't the first to arise from this issue; this time, social media has made it worse."

The Tiktok Paradox

What, then, is becoming the most popular on TikTok, and who is using it?

Videos that are obviously pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli are often interspersed throughout my TikTok stream; the opposing factions frequently critique one other's material. Furthermore, information that supports Palestine seems to be more well-liked among Gen Z users, or those who were born between 1997 and 2021.

those on TikTok with the hashtag "istandwithpalestine" have garnered over 870 million views, but those utilizing the hashtag "istandwithisrael" have accumulated over 240 million views. It resembles other well-liked video-based websites among youth users.

While some of these films predate the October 7 attacks, many have been uploaded after Hamas, which is banned by the British government and other states as a terrorist organization.

The most widely shared information on both sides differs noticeably from one another.

The issue is the extent to which both the Israeli government and Hamas, the group in charge of Gaza, promote or control unauthorized material.

Polarization and hate

To find out more, I tracked out a few TikTokers, including Daniel, an Israeli soldier. With 2.1 million views, his most popular video shows him and three other active-duty troops dancing while brandishing firearms a few days after the October 7 assaults.

His films have since had less views, each with more over 10,000 views, but not nearly as many as the first two million.

On TikTok, it may be hard to forecast when a video will go popular.

The fact that the number of views is still down might mean that people are not as open to these movies as they previously were, especially in light of the carnage in Gaza. As a consequence, less people are recommending these videos.

It's also important to note that a larger number of views is not always indicative of a favorable response. Videos are easily shared and harshly condemned. On TikTok, users often create "stitch" posts, which are reposts of videos accompanied by user reactions.

I seen this occur with a few of Daniel's items. Some said that Daniel's dance video was disrespectful to the civilians being slaughtered in Gaza in the comments section underneath both the reposted version of "Stitches" and Daniel's own post. "Shameless" was the remark made by one user, and "the more you show your cruelty in the eyes of the world," by another.

According to Daniel, there have been two groups of people responding to his content: "supportive users" and others who spread hatred and sometimes anti-Semitic remarks. Pro-Hamas accounts erroneously claimed that the captives abducted on October 7 were either professional actors or that Israeli troops had murdered them. These claims were among the derogatory remarks made on his videos and other postings concerning Israel.

"First of all, I have done nothing wrong, and second, people all over the globe are so committed to detesting Israel that it doesn't matter, so I'm not taking the negative responses personally. That's what [my material] is about," Danielle said.

Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen told TikTok officials in a recent meeting that the platform was "creating the largest anti-Semitic movement since the Nazis." Not all Jewish celebrities have voiced their concerns in the aftermath of the October 7 assaults, including him.

TikTok said recently in a blog post: "Our recommendation algorithm does not 'take sides' and has strict measures in place to prevent manipulation."

The social media giant also informed us that, between October 7 and November 17, it had taken down over 1.1 million videos from the war area for violating its policies. These videos included ones that supported terrorism, Hamas, hate speech, and disinformation. includes the contents.

"Content that promotes Islamophobia or anti-Semitism" is prohibited under its community standards, against which TikTok claims to take action.

I notice that some content makers that support Palestine have a distinct aesthetic in their films.

Speaking straight to the camera in her bedroom, Ariana often addresses it while posting recordings of the fight from her US residence. She shares her thoughts on celebrity postings about violence or images from Gaza.

My opinions have changed since I began writing about Palestine [after October 7]. Ariana told me, "I lost a lot of followers," citing criticism from those who support Israel.

However, in the weeks that followed, she started to have more interactions on TikTok as she started sharing more content that she deemed to be Israeli propaganda.

"As more people became aware of me, the quantity grew," she claims.

"A lot of support" has been received, she adds, mostly from those who "felt like they couldn't trust traditional media" online.

However, she has encountered anti-Islamic sentiment on Instagram and other social media sites in addition to TikTok.

Daniel and Ariana both state that no political figures or other organizations are funding their work.

Bin Laden's letter to Osama

It's simpler to see how more radical views might start to acquire momentum when consumers are exposed to an increasing amount of material that supports a certain narrative.

A number of Gen Z users started endorsing Osama bin Laden's 2002 "Letter to America" on TikTok, which he penned as an explanation for the September 11 terrorist attacks, which claimed 3,000 American lives. There were fatalities.

In essence, such posts supplied a counterargument to bin Laden's assertions on the legitimacy of US engagement in Middle East wars.

However, he made no mention of the original letter's anti-Semitic remarks or homophobic vocabulary.

TikTok said that although there weren't many videos about the letter, interest in it had grown after it was tweeted. Since then, TikTok has taken down the videos and disabled the ability to search for "Letter to America" on the app.

On x, things are not the same.

On more established platforms, such as X, the situation is different.

It has been alleged that the site facilitates the dissemination of hateful, violent, and deceptive information. Elon Musk, the company's relatively recent owner, has also come under fire for his comments on articles endorsing anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.

Since then, Mr. Musk has reaffirmed that he is not anti-Semitic, and the social media giant has defended how it handles offensive material.

However, X has long been a well-liked site among journalists and politicians, in contrast to TikTok. It seems that there is still a sizable audience for pro-Israel information in this community.

For instance, almost 40 million views were made to the official account on X between November 16 and November 21.

By contrast, the official X account of the Palestinian Mission to the UN has much fewer followers and has only had just over 200,000 views on its own postings within the same time frame.

Additionally, I've discovered proof that official X accounts are also disseminating false information.

The baseless allegations that the corpse of a four-year-old Palestinian kid murdered in Israeli strikes was only a toy were issued by the State of Israel in October. The Israeli Embassy's representative in the United Kingdom refrained from making direct comments either the child's dying circumstances or these social media postings.

Accounts that support Hamas have also been propagating false information. But similar myths have emerged online more sporadically in the lack of official accounts with sizable fan bases.

Consider remarks made about a separate four-year-old Israeli child who was murdered by Hamas in an assault on his house, implying that the child was a "paid actor."

The death of two 4-year-old boys and how social media disputed its contentious restrictions

Next is Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram. It has been under fire for allegedly moderating war-related information too harshly.

For instance, Instagram banned the more than six million-follower account @eye.on.Palestine for a few days after it shared images and videos of brutality against people in Gaza during Israeli airstrikes. was completed.

"For security reasons after signs of compromise," Meta subsequently said.

On Instagram, a number of users who upload pro-Palestinian material have also reported incidents in which they claim their accounts have been blocked from making comments on posts, for example, without providing a clear explanation.